News
11/07/25
Brazil gov must boost EV demand: Li miners
Sao Paulo, 11 July (Argus) — At least four suppliers in the Brazilian spodumene
market voiced interest in federal policies to boost demand for electric vehicles
(EVs) to create a consolidated end-to-end battery supply chain in Brazil, the
companies said at a conference in Minas Gerais. In an initiative led by
Companhia Brasileira de Litio (CBL), executives for AMG Lithium, Lithium Ionic
and PLS all pleaded for the Brazilian federal government to implement policies
to boost EV demand — which would support the Brazilian spodumene market — CBL's
chief executive Vinicius Alvarenga said. CBL owns the only lithium carbonate
refinery in Brazil and it believes the country has the potential to have an
end-to-end battery supply chain. Currently, Chinese refineries receive 99pc of
all lithium chemicals produced in Brazil. "The only thing stopping Brazilian
companies to make battery cells is the lack of demand from the regional market,"
Alvarenga said. "We need to pressure the government to incentivize the
installation of lithium-based energy storage systems and to give more benefits
to EV buyers." Alvarenga mentioned WEG — a multidisciplinary technology company
— and Moura, the largest battery manufacturer in Latin America, as firms well
suited for the job. "Brazil can be one of the world's top players in the energy
transition landscape," said Leandro Gobbo, vice-president for Brazilian
operations at PLS. "We have world class ore, the expertise and the technology to
do so — we only lack government incentives." At the bottom of the cost curve,
Brazil has one of the cheapest hard-rock lithium operations in the world,
rivaling China and beating Australia and many African producers. Although China
holds its place as the home to the cheapest hard-rock lithium projects in the
world, Brazilian miners are also operating at a profit despite the low price
environment, mainly because of cheap labor. Around half of the world's hard-rock
lithium miners are currently operating at a loss. All three commercially
producing spodumene companies in Brazil — Sigma Lithium, CBL and AMG — are
sticking to their investment guidance and expansion plans despite falling
prices. "There is an opportunity here at this low-price environment," said Blake
Hylands, chief executive of Lithium Ionic, owner one of the largest undeveloped
spodumene sites in Brazil. "We need to move projects forward at this time so
Brazil can progress in the global stage." The average labor costs in Brazil are
significantly lower than in places like Australia, which is also dealing with a
workforce shortage in mining, according to Gobbo, and where employee wages have
pushed most spodumene operations to operate at a loss as prices bottom. "Brazil
will never beat China in capital costs and internal demand," Alvarenga said.
"But despite taking a hit at those two, Brazil is the best place in the world to
produce spodumene." Brazil has a combination of benefits that are not seen
elsewhere, such as low royalties, a specialized workforce, solid internal and
external logistics, market transparency, legal stability, high ESG and human
rights standards, and the cheapest electrical energy in the world, Alvarenga
said, which is mostly renewable. "If we look at other countries with cheap
[spodumene] production, we don't see that," said Ligia Pinto, vice-president of
external affairs at Sigma Lithium, Brazil's top lithium concentrate producer.
"Our low costs do not harm human rights." The so-called Lithium Valley — a
spodumene rich region in Southeast Brazil — has a production capacity of 320,000
metric tonnes (t)/yr of lithium concentrate between CBL and Sigma Lithium, the
country's top producer. AMG Lithium, which operates further south, bumps up
Brazil's total current capacity to 410,000t/yr. "This is a country that we can
trust," Hylands said. "We are taking longer than China, but that's okay, because
everyone takes longer than China." By Pedro Consoli Send comments and request
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